IPA’s Outreach Moves FIRPTA Parity Forward
Colleagues,
The IPA and our FIRPTA Task Force are extremely proud to share today that “Parity for Non-Traded REITs Act” was officially introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives today, led by Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Darin LaHood (R-IL).
Although we cannot yet declare victory in our efforts to fight for parity, this is a very exciting milestone and a massive step forward.
As we highlighted in our Q1 Policy Perspective, as our industry evolves, our products continue to attract new investors, including foreign investors, who face disparate taxation and regulatory burdens under FIRPTA. The FIRPTA Parity Act—which extends the FIRPTA exception currently available to foreign shareholders of publicly traded REITs to foreign shareholders of public, non-traded REITs—will inject additional capital into the commercial real estate market supporting state and local tax revenue, job growth and investments in workforce housing at a critical time in our economy.
We’ve been working closely with Reps. Suozzi, LaHood and others to develop this legislation to advance parity between non-traded REITs and exchange-traded REITs in the Internal Revenue Code.
“As New York comes out of the pandemic, we must make investing in New York as easy and accessible as possible,” said Rep. Suozzi. “This legislation will help jump start the economy, spur growth, and support good-paying union jobs.”
“Given the current economic environment and the need for additional investment in U.S. real estate, updating existing FIPRTA rules applicable to public non-traded REITs will expand available capital, create parity with exchange traded REITS, and level the playing field for investors – thereby encouraging more foreign investment in U.S. real estate and generating economic and job growth at home. I was proud to work with my colleague Congressman Suozzi on this bipartisan bill,” said Rep. LaHood.
We look forward to advancing these efforts and gaining additional cosponsors of this legislation later this month at our annual IPA Summit. It’s been a busy few weeks leading up to the bill’s introduction – marked also by the introduction of the American Families Plan.
While we are unable to gather in-person in Washington, D.C. again this year, we are excited to bring back last year’s high-profile virtual on May 17-20, 2021. Please register to join us as we’ve gathered key industry thought leaders to provide you a holistic view of the most pressing policy and industry issues in our industry.
Finally, I want to thank our members for their support and patience as we moved this legislation forward. A special acknowledgement goes to our team at GrayRobinson for their efforts to gain support for sponsorship of this bill.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Tony or me.
Thanks,
Anya Coverman
SVP, Government Affairs and General Counsel
Institute for Portfolio Alternatives